Coyte helped found Shore Paws for a Better Life last year after a severely neglected dog called Yodi died six weeks after the owner — with encouragement from an Accomack County Control Officer, she said — agreed to surrender the dog.

The organization advocates for changes to be made to the county ordinance to limit conditions under which pet owners are allowed to tie their dogs outside — including prohibiting tethering from dusk to dawn and in unfavorable weather conditions — along with other changes to ensure owners properly care for their pets.

Educating the community and animal owners also is key, Coyte said.

She has spoken three times before the Accomack County Board of Supervisors about changing the ordinance. In August, Coyte presented a petition signed by 1,090 people to the board.

"It's an impossibility to enforce — why adopt an ordinance that you know you can't enforce?" he said after Coyte spoke at a board meeting last summer.

Still, Coyte said the group plans to continue lobbying county officials.

"'Impossible,' 'can't,' 'quit' — those are not in my vocabulary," she said.

"We will be addressing the board of supervisors again and when we do, I hope we can count on the community to be there. If something isn't done, we will continue to see these horrible images of dead dogs," Coyte said.